The Church of Scientology has launched a countrywide personal attack against
a University of Alberta professor who has publicly criticized some of their
practices.

Sociology professor Stephen Kent was the subject of a scathing article in a
16-page Church of Scientology supplement entitled Freedom that was distributed
with the Globe and Mail newspaper Friday.

In the two-page article, Kent is compared to well-known neo-Nazi hatemongerer
Ernst Zundel and is referred to "as the academic point man for the voices
of hate against new religions."

The article also questions the validity of Kent's academic research and
suggests he should be disqualified from receiving any more government
research grants.

"Freedom of speech demands that Stephen Kent be permitted to hold his
unorthodox views of religion, in the same vein that Ernst Zundel does,"
the article states. "But his support of discrimination and intolerance
which has led to human-rights violations and even violence - in Germany as
well as in Canada - should disqualify him totally from any government support
or funding."

The attack appears to be related to Kent's work as an expert witness for a
German parliamentary committee. Many German government officials believe
Scientology is not a religion, but rather a business based on what they
perceive as dangerous totalitarian ideology In response, the government
ordered close monitoring of the organization while a commission gathers
information about its activities in Germany and around the world.

Kent travelled to Germany three times last summer to speak to German
legislators and mainstream church groups about Scientology practices,
including forced labour and a form of brainwashing.

Kent expected some kind of attack from Scientology for his work in Germany.

"Scientology has policies, which are public and well known, to undertake
character assassination against their perceived enemies and this article is
simply a demonstration of that Scientology policy," said Kent, adding
that he was never interviewed for the article, and that it doesn't quote from
any of his published work.

"They can't quote anything from my work that would suggest I propagate
hate against new religious groups because I never have. I am not a religious
bigot. These are libellous allegations that have no substance in reality,"
Kent said.

Kent said he's being attacked for two reasons. The first is because he
acted as a consultant to the German government, which is about to publish
its findings on sectarian and psychological groups that are "probably
going to be very critical of Scientology and its probable human-rights
abuses.

"The second reason is that I am the most vocal academic in the world
when it comes to discussing issues of Scientology's probable human-rights
abuses."

Kent has been the target of Scientology attacks in the past. In September,
Scientologists picketed at the University of Alberta and formally accused
Kent of harassment.

The university rejected the accusation and defended Kent's right to
academic freedom.

Doug Owram, the University of Alberta's academic vice-president, said the
university fully stands behind Kent and his research. Kent's work on
Scientology is peer reviewed and meets all internal scholarly guidelines.

The university will probably not respond to the article.

"We've seen these sorts of attacks before and to get into a mud-slinging
match with them goes nowhere," Owram said. "I guess people will
just have to judge the reputation of the Church of Scientology versus Stephen
Kent and the University of Alberta. I'm not terribly concerned about the
outcome."

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